General
It was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that it will hear Samsung's appeal against damages awarded to Apple in a patent infringement lawsuit. Two weeks ago it officially confirmed that the hearing date for this review has been set on October 11. The question before the Supreme Court is this: Were the penalties awarded to Apple in a California federal court case which found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple's design patents excessive? Samsung contends that damages in patent lawsuits concerning complex devices like smartphones should only be based on patented components and not on total profits from sales of devices that have those infringing components.
In a legal brief filed with the court, Apple claims that Samsung has not provided enough evidence to support its claim that design patent damages should only be based on patented components and not on total profits from sales of infringing devices. Apple argues that there is no need for the Supreme Court to send this case back to the lower court for further proceedings as Congress is clear on issues related to design patent damages so the apex court shouldn't allow Samsung to make additional arguments. Samsung has not yet commented on this latest development, but the company has previously said that a ruling made in favor of Apple is going to negatively effect the economy and hurt innovation.
